Electro-magnetic reciprocating engine



(No Model.)

No. 320,515. Patented June 23, 1885.

M #MTM themen STATES PATENT trice,

ELECTRO-MAGNETIC RECIPROCATING ENGINE.

EBPECFECATON iorming part of Letters Patent No. 320,515, dated June 23,1885.

Application filed February 20, 1885. (No model.)

- ronLn, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Chicago,in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Electro-Magnetic Reciprocating Engines, ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to cert-ain improvements in electro magneticreciprocating engines, more especially of that class designed for min'ing coal, drilling rocks, &c.; and the invention consists in thepeculiar construction and arrangement and the combinations of partshereinafter more particularly described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a diagrammatic sectionshowing the electrical circuits and the connection of the sections ofthe solenoid with the sections of the commutator. Fig. 2 shows avertical longitudinal section through the core and solenoid with partsin elevation.

Referring nowto the details of construction, Ais asolenoid made up of aseries of sections, a a, formed of coils of copper strips, the layers ofwhich are properly insulated from each other. Each sectionis slipped onabrass tube, t, and then the insideterminal of the first coil isconnected to the outside terminal of the second coil, the inner terminalof the second coil to the outer terminal of the third coil, and so onthroughout the entire series. rlhe outer terminals are each connected toa corresponding section of a commutator, C, as shown in Fig. l, thefirst coil being connected to the first section of the commutator,thesecond coil to the second section of the commutator, and so onthroughout the entire series of coils and sections.

Vithin the tube t runs a plunger or core, p, around which is coiled acopper wire, a', through which a current flows constantly in the samedirection, thus always magnetizing the plunger or core with the samepolarity.

One terminal of this coil is permanently con.

nected with the iron plunger, while the other end is insulated from thesame, and is connected to a sliding contact-piece, s, traveling with theplunger p, and .rubbing on a stationary contact piece, S, ruiming thefull length of the solenoid and insulated from the tube t.

At b b are represented brushes, secured in suitable brush-holders, B,and insulated from each other, which brushes are made to travel to andfro over the commutator C, describing each time a half-revolution orless by means of the following mechanism:

The brush-holders B are attached to a pulley, g, around which a belt, d,passes, one end of which is attached to a spring, o, while the other endis secured to asleeve, e, through which passes another belt, d, passingaround pulleys f f, and whose opposite ends are secured to the oppositeends of the plunger p.

Firmly Xed to the belt d are two collars, e and e, and loosely slidingthereon is a heavy sleeve or slide7 c.

To the belt d is firmly secured a catch, a,

'into which catches the end of a detent, U, pivoted at a.

At opposite ends of the solenoid are shown castiron heads 7L h',thelatter being the heavier, and is intended to increase the speed andstrength of the forward motion of the plunger p, while the other one ishollow or recessed, so as to be lighter and to have less attraction thanthe opposite head, as the plunger does no work on its return-stroke, andto check the momentum of the plunger at its backward stroke a spring, j,is secured inside the head To the plunger is firmly fixed a 1od,1',pre[`erably of brass or bronze, to which is to be affixed a tool-such as adrill,&c.-which rod passes through thehead t,earried by the other end ofthe tube t.

Pand N are the positive and negative poles, respectively.

The ci rcuits in the apparatus are as follows: The current from anysource enters at l?, and by suitable connection passes to the brush b,thence to the commutator through a certain number of coils of solenoidA,and out of com mutator by brush b to negative pole N. The

coil. a of plunger p is in a derivation from the brushes b and b, andthe current from I) thus enters through a suitable conductor theinsulated strips S, and by sliding contact s enters a' and leaves by theopposite terminal through the plunger p, tube t, and head 7i to negativeICO pole N. A number of coils iu the solenoid corresponding to theposition of the brushes b and b are thus always in a derivation from thecoil around plunger p. As will be readily understood, by moving thebrushes b and b upon the commutator C the points of entering and leavingof the current through the coils a c are changed according to theposition of the brushes, and since the north and south poles of thesolenoid correspond to the points of entrance and leaving of t-hecurrent,we can thus produce a corresponding motion of the plunger p.

Ila-ving thus described the different parts oll my engine and the modeof sending the current through the different parts, I will nowexplainthe operation ofthe machine in practice.

On establishing the circuit with a suitable sourceol" electricitybetween the poles I? and N, and admitting the plunger p to be at theback end ofthe stroke and the parts in the position shown in Fig. 2, thebrushes upon the con1mutator will stand in such aposition asto send thecurrent through the solenoid A from 12 to 24. rlhus the plunger will bethrown forward until it reachesthe outer edge of h. A t the same timethat the plunger makes its forward motion the belt d causes the collarsand slide e', c, and 0 to move backward, and when e comes in contactwith the weighted end of the detent U it lifts the same and causes itsopposite end to disengage from the catch u, illus freeing the belt t andallowing it to be operated by the spring e, which causes the brushes band b to change their position, so that the current enters now at l andleaves at 12, thus causing the plunger to move backward to its originalposition,as shown in Fig. 2. The plunger, in moving backward,carries thebelt d forward, so that the collar e,striking @,pulls on thebelt d, andthus changes the position ofthe brushes b and b, so as to to send thecurrent to the forward sections. As soon as the catch uis drawn Vfarenough back the detent U engages with it, and thus the change of theposit-ion of the brushes is prevented until during the forward stroke ofthe plu nger p,when the slide e again discngages the detent U from thecatch a. rlhis causestheplunger p and rodrto be again thrown back, andthese movements are repeated with a force and celerity corresponding tothe strength of the current used as long as the current is supplied tothe machine. Let us now suppose that the apparatus is set in motionwithout the tool striking any object in its course. It will be readilyseen that the stops c and e will operate the shifting ofthe brushes, andthat the machine will continue to run perfectly in this condition butnowlet us suppose that the tool strikes some'obstacle and prevents thevfull stroke oftheplunger. The result will be that the detent U wouldnot be tripped, and consequently the machine would be at a standstillwere it not for the loose slide c, which now comes into play, for themoment the plunger comes to a standstill the momentum gained by theslide c (which is made heavy l'or that purpose) will cause it to moveforward and trip the detent U, thus reversing the brushes upon thecommutator and causing the plunger to move backward and set the brushest'or another forward stroke, when the tool will again be brought incontact with the substance it has to strike, and the slide c willagain,through itsmomentum, tiy on its course and trip the detent U.rllhus it will be seen that, no matter whether the plunger runs itst'ull course or not,the brushes will be worked just the same, thuskeeping up the motion ofthe machine. It will ot' course be understoodthat the backward stroke is always the same, the plunger stopping at thesame point, no matter how long or how short may be the l'orward thrust.lt will be seen that as the brushes change their position the courseofthe current will be gradually changed, for as they move around thecolnmutator they will bear in succession on sections 1 and 1.2, next 2and 13, then 3 and 14, and so on, so that the current gradually changesfrom one halt of the sections to the other hall".

The object ot" using a coil around the plunger and making it anelectro-magnet is to diminish the current required in the large solcnoidwithout decreasing the power ol' the machine, and at the same time toreduce to a minimum the spark on the commutator and brushes on theshift-ing of the current by the same. I tnd in practice that the coilaround the plunger should be ina derivation t'rom the coils in` thelarge solenoid, (the coils brought in circuit by the brushes b and b',)so that the coils a a a between b and b are parallel with the coil aofthe plunger.

I do not intend to limit myself to the precise device shown in Fig. 2for the shifting of the brushes, as many other equally etlicient devicesmay be devised to accomplish the same result without departing t rom thespirit ot' my invention.

l. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoid, asdescribed, having an iron core wound with suitable coils of wire, makingthe same an electro-magnet, the coils of said core beingin parallelcircuit with the coils in the solenoid A, through which the currenttlows, substantially as described.

2. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoid, A,having an electromagnet for its core and current-controllers forshifting the current in the sectional solenoid, so as to cause theelectro-magnetic core to make a to-and-fro movement within the solenoid,substantially as described.

3. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoid, A,provided with an electro-magnet for its core, having its coil connectedalternately with the sections on the opposite ends of the solenoid, andthrough which the current is passing, substantially as described.

4. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoidhaving movable core IOO IIO

and a belt connected with and moved by said core for shifting thecurrent in the sectional solenoid to produce a continual reciprocatingmotion of said core, substantially as described.

5. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoid,the successive coils of the same in electrical communication with thesections of a commutator, said commutator being provided with asemi-rotary brush-holder carrying positive and negative brush es andautomatically moving said brushes over the conimutator to shift thecurrent in the sectional solenoid, and thus cause it score to be movedto and fro, substantially as described.

6. In an electro-magnetic engine, a sectional solenoid having a movablecore, which in its backward movement -moves the brushes over thecommutator, in combination with a sliding weight for changing theposition of the brushes on the cessation of the forward motion of thecore, substantially as described.

7. In an electro-magnetic engine, a sectional solenoid, anelectro-magnet, as a core, having its current always in the samedirection, and a current-controller for changing the course of thecurrent through the solenoid, substantially as described.

8. In an elcetro-reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoid having acommutator and movable brushes upon the same, and a core or plungermoved to and fro by the electro-mag netic action of the solenoid, saidcore or plunger carrying at its forward end a rod for rcceiving a tool,and connection between the core and the brushes for shifting the brushesof the commutator and causing the displacement of magnetic attractionbetween the sections of the solenoid and the movable plunger,substantially as described.

9. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoidhaving at each end thereof an iron disk 'for strengthening the action ofthe core and preventing its motion being carried too far, substantiallyas described.

10. In an electro-magnetic reciprocating engine, a sectional solenoidhaving at each end thereof an iron disk, the disk at one end being theheaviest to increase the force at that end, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses,this 13th day of February, 1885.

CHARLES J. VAN DEPOELE.

Viitnesses:

WM. A. STILns, J. EAsoN.

